This excerpt is the first chapter of my first interracial romance. Ramona Adams is in for a huge shock when she's sent to a conference for her job and nothing is like she expected.
I'm planning to release this novella within the next month. Of course, the cover art hasn't been finalized but I'm too excited to know what you think about this project to wait for that.
Chapter One:
An Unexpected Twist
Ramona stared at
the itinerary for the conference she was scheduled to attend in a couple of
days. It was a good thing she hadn’t set the information packet aside, assuming
it was simply the information she’d already seen. After reading the notation at
the bottom of the page twice, double-checking the original email from the
previous week, and thinking about the conversations she’d had with her
supervisor, nothing made sense. The
conference is in the Virgin Islands. There will be plenty of down time and
access to shopping, night clubs, horses, swimming pools, and a casino. Please
be sure to pack the appropriate clothes. Really?
She sent her
boss an email questioning the details and got an almost immediate reply that he
was sure everything was fine. That was all? She tamped down the temptation to
call him. He’d been in back-to-back meetings for several days and probably
wouldn’t appreciate being distracted.
When Caleb had
given her short notice to replace him at a week-long business conference, it
hadn’t bothered her. Of course she could go. It wasn’t as though she had a life.
No husband or boyfriend to complain. No children to make arrangements for. No parents
to tell her she was working too hard and that the company was taking advantage
of her. Otherwise, she’d fill her empty evenings and weekend as she usually
did, going over projects and forecasts. It was either that or let her mind
drift to thoughts of the relationship she wanted but knew she’d never have.
Yeah, she needed
a break.
Would she be
expected to participate in all of those activities? She’d never been on a
horse. Did she even own appropriate swimsuit? With her reddish-brown skin and
frizzy deep brown hair that she worked hard to tame, sunbathing and swimming
weren’t high on her list of leisure activities. Oh well, she was the well-paid
Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer of a midsize corporation. It was a
dream job that she loved. With a soft sigh and a slight shrug, she admitted to
herself that she would always do whatever was needed to make them look good.
Last minute
instructions required an emergency shopping trip. Thankfully, her best friend
Marisa was able to rearrange her schedule and take the afternoon off. After a
quick lunch and four stores, Marisa was passing garments over the wall of the
dressing room and chatting while Ramona tried on item after item.
“What do you
think?” Ramona stepped into the area between fitting rooms to check herself in
the large three-sided mirror.
“That looks
great,” her best friend nodded in approval. “All those hours on the treadmill
have paid off.”
“I don’t know.” Ramona
turned to get a better view of her butt and firm thighs. The copper color
perfectly complimented her skin, but was the swimsuit cut too high? The bikini
definitely made her legs look longer, but this was still a business conference,
not a Young Black Professional’s singles soiree. “I’m not sure how much skin is
appropriate. Maybe I should be a little more conservative.”
“Nonsense! Get both
suits.” Marisa grinned and held up the emerald one-piece with a plunging
neckline and tasteful cut-out on the sides. “You can always get this cover-up
for the bikini.”
“Oh, this definitely
requires a cover-up!” Ramona glanced at the sheer coral cover dangling from her
friend’s hand. It would look good with the both the green and the copper suits.
And it was long enough to come halfway down her thighs.
“How are you
supposed to dress for the casino?” Marisa asked now that her friend was back
inside the changing room.
“That outfit I
wore to Paul’s wedding should be okay.”
Marisa
considered the wide-legged chiffon pants and, even though Ramona couldn’t wear
a bra with it, a loose gold top that tastefully swooped in the front and back. She
approved.
“And, what are
you going to do about your hair? The humidity will probably be crazy.” Marisa
gave a frown at her friend who was emerging from the dressing room with her
natural curls sticking out all over the place. She watched Ramona ruffle her
hair with her fingers to fluff them back into shape. Unprocessed hair was not
for everyone but this woman wore it well.
Nearly shoulder length with a loose curl pattern, her
hair looked like she always had a personal stylist. Quite honestly, if Marisa
was confident that her hair would look anything like her friend’s, she might
give up the relaxer and go natural, too. Nah—natural was too much work.
“Well,” Ramona was saying, “I’m going to wear it
like this and hope I won’t actually be expected to get in the water.” She
frowned at the swimwear and tossed it into the cart before she could change her
mind. “For the casino, I’ll probably pin up the back because it could get a
little hot if the place is crowded. And also, I want to show off that swooping
neckline.” She laughed. “Now, if I actually get up enough courage to ride a
horse, I’ll just slap a band on it to keep it out of my face.” She flung her
purse strap onto her shoulder and shrugged. “I’m going to bring my Kindle and
spend as much time as possible relaxing with a good book. Hopefully, there will
be plenty of time when my presence won’t be required.”
“That’s so
boring!”
“I never claim
to be an exciting person, and you didn’t just meet me. Plus, you used to be as
much of a workaholic as I am.” She shook her head. “Honestly, I feel a little
unsettled by this whole social element to the agenda. I try to keep my
professional and social lives separate.”
“What social
life?” Marisa laughed. “Three dates in two months, Sunday dinners at my house,
and babysitting my bad-ass three-year-old so I can have a date night with Bryan
is not the same as socializing.”
Ramona laughed,
too. Her friend was right.
It wasn’t as
though she hadn’t tried to have a life outside of working and exercising. It
was just that the same old cliché kept catching up with her—men wanted a woman
who could look up to them and need them, not one who was opinionated and made
more money than they did. She never talked about money, but one guy had
straight out told her that it was obvious by the way she handled herself that
she definitely wasn’t the type of woman to hang out at happy hour waiting on
some man to buy her a drink. “And no offense,” he’d added, “but you don’t throw
off that booty-call vibe.”
“No offense
taken.”
She didn’t want
to be short-time fling or the girl on the side, even though she had one
“sex-buddy” that she suspected was serious about someone else. Hey, everyone
had their exceptions. But she needed something more than a man that could
stimulate her body. She wanted to debate about politics and have the occasional
candle-light dinner. Little red glass globes with floating tea light candles
didn’t count.
Marisa’s
husband, Bryan, had tried to hook Ramona up with some of his friends. Whether
they had been black, Hispanic, African, or white, none of them had clicked with
her. Too many professional men spent too much time talking about their
professions. No one took the time to know that she liked to bowl, that she
could talk football with the best of her male friends, loved shooting tequila
and good whiskey as long as she didn’t have to drive, and was a junkie for
action movies. Typical man things, right? Hang out with the boys things, right?
Bryan’s friends
were nice, but they seemed to be more impressed with the fact that she was
beautiful, intelligent, and career minded. They always seemed to compliment her
on her ambition without understanding that being a workaholic hadn’t been one
of her life plans.
Ramona also wondered
whether, even though she didn’t consider herself to be shallow, the dating
cliché worked both ways. Was she only interested in a man who made more money
than her, lived in a bigger house, and looked good at the work-related socials
she periodically attended? She didn’t think so. That would mean she was also
looking for an obsessed partner, and that wasn’t true. Two workaholics simply wouldn’t
have time for raising a family, and she definitely wanted to have children. The
corporate grind was becoming less and less satisfying. She would be willing to
cut back on her obligations to her company, but would he? She didn’t want
parenthood to be a one-sided priority. She wanted an old-fashioned family with
two parents, three kids, and lots of love.
If only the one
guy she liked was an option. Oh well ...
She sighed, paid
for her purchases, and treated her best friend to dinner.
